The operator called withdrawal at the recorded temperature.
He did not wait for smoke. The anchor still appeared to hold its reduced task, and an ambulance was crossing beyond it, but the warning they had circulated now required action. Dema checked the second indicator and gave the release sequence.
Kellan looked at the immediate yard.
One patient vehicle stood too close to the device’s working space. An empty transport was turning toward the loading point. Engineers would need the same strip to disconnect and remove the unit. If everyone followed the last instruction they had received, they would meet beside the hot assembly.
“Hold the empty vehicle. Move the loaded one along the marked lane,” he called.
The traffic lead repeated the change and sent a worker to the driver. Kellan did not drag a door open or assume the patient could tolerate a sudden movement. The clinical crew confirmed readiness, and the vehicle moved clear under its own driver’s control.
The first convoy remained in progress. Vehicles already across continued toward the hospital-side receiving assembly. The next waiting transport stayed on the departure bank while the repair lane opened.
Ossa brought her section inward to cover the engineers. Bel held the adjacent position. The smaller defended yard left little room to absorb another retreat, and the creatures seemed to find every gap created by people moving tools.
